Finding Solace in Favourite Quotes: Escaping Despair with Words of Wisdom

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I don't remember quotes from books very well so I often have lines from songs as my favourite quotes. For some reason, even though I am not religious, I tend to like quotes about god and angels and such, as you may note from my current sig.

"And when you get ta heaven may the Devil be yer judge." Another Bag of Bricks by Flogging Molly

That may not seem so much like a motto but I like to interpret it as saying that you should not live as though you will be forgiven for your 'sins'.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
"Expect the worst from others, and you will never be disappointed." - Rat, Pearls before Swine
 


"Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you." - Don't do anything you wouldn't want done to you!

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius



And of course...

"Physics and law enforcement: If it wern't for those two, I'd be unstoppable!"
 


I might not agree with what you say[do], but I will fight to the death for your right to do so.

Voltaire


Everyone is equal, they have the equal right to tell their neighbors what to do, and that is none.

John Locke
 


rootX said:
Great minds talk about ideas, average minds talk about events, and small minds talk about people.

What about sociologists?
 


You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss
 


Kronos5253 said:
"Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you." -

The business golden rules:

Do unto others before they do it to you.

He who has the gold makes the rules.
 


"I'll be in my panic room."

Whether it's a good idea to be constantly panicking is, of course, debatable.
 


Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed

Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence

You can't go around building a better world for people, only people can build a better world for people, otherwise its just a cage

Terry Pratchett
 


"Experience is something you don't get until after you could have used it." (not sure where I heard that one first)

"If you never make any mistakes, then you're probably not even doing anything." (my undergraduate research adviser when I was being too hard on myself)
 


"F*** it, man. Let's go bowling." -Walter Sobchak (reminds me sometimes things are a lost cause and to cut your losses)

“To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson (the quote I try to live by every day.)
 


brewnog said:
If in doubt,
Mek it stout,
Out o' stuff tha knows about.

Wonderful northen wisom.
 


"There is no shame in falling. There is only shame if you refuse to rise once again."
 


"Never let your schooling interfere with your education." - I think this was Mark Twain
 


DanP said:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
.

I know this dude who took some mushrooms, drank some alcohol, and decided to do some rock climbing without gear. He fell and he's in a wheelchair now. On the plus side(?), he gets checks from the guy whose property he was trespassing on.

I'm pretty sure he finds the decision to do something in this instance more disappointing then things he decided not to do.
 
Galteeth said:
I'm pretty sure he finds the decision to do something in this instance more disappointing then things he decided not to do.
I would argue that his capacity to take any decision was drastically altered by whatever drugs he took . Anyway ... some ppl don't choose to sit in a wheel-chair even when paralyzed :

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/274149

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1433303

Karen Drake, paralyzed as a result of a climbing accident taking on El Capitan in Yosemite

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=543

(Some) Humans have a strong will to dominate, conquer and govern. Frankly, I don't see this women as regretting the climb which left her paralyzed. You cannot regret the very things which define what you are.
 
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"With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?" - Ishmael

"The secret to happiness is to find something more important than you are and dedicate your life to it." - Dan Dennett

"From my rotting body flowers shall grow, and I am in them, and that is eternity." - Edvard Munch
 


When I feel nervous I think of Bob Dylan singing that "Even the president of the United States sometimes has to stand naked".

Henry David Thoreau has got too many, but this one inspired me more than most others:

"A living dog is better than a dead lion. Shall a man go and hang himself because he belongs to the race of pygmies, and not be the biggest pygmy that he can? Let every one mind his own business, and endeavor to be what he was made. Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
 


Galteeth said:
I know this dude who took some mushrooms, drank some alcohol, and decided to do some rock climbing without gear. He fell and he's in a wheelchair now. On the plus side(?), he gets checks from the guy whose property he was trespassing on.

I'm pretty sure he finds the decision to do something in this instance more disappointing then things he decided not to do.
If I was the property owner I'd be very tempted to make sure your friend's state was changed to something more peaceful than being in a wheel chair.
 
Dying would wreck my image
Jack LaLanne

He really is an amazing guy. At 95 he was healthy enough for heart surgery!
http://www.popeater.com/2009/12/16/tv-fitness-icon-jack-lalanne-95-has-heart-surgery/

Very strange aside: I once saw someone in Jack's sports car spin out [safely] on the 101 Hwy in California, right in front of me. I don't recall the play on words but he had a distinctive custom plate that had been in the news, which is how I knew it was his car. If it was Jack driving, then he was doing well over 100 mph at age 70+.
 
"Order is simply a thin, perilous condition we try to impose on the basic reality of chaos..."

--William Gaddis, "JR," 25
 
- An original idea. That can't be too hard. The library must be full of them.

- I don't watch television, I think it destroys the art of talking about oneself.

Stephen Fry
 

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